Shelving



J. B. OCONNOR.

SHELVING.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24, 1320.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- BYQZLLOMJFQGJX HTTYS.

Patented Jan. 25, 1921.

J. B. OCONNOR.

SHELVING.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24. 1920.

Patented Jan. 25, 1921.

2 SHEETSFSHEET 2.

tition to the next, and detachably attached UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN B. O'CONNOR, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO LYON METALLIC MANU- FACTURING COMPANY, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SHELVING.

Application filed June 24, 1920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN B. OCoNNoR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shelving, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to shelving, more particularly sectional metallic shelving, in which the shelves are supported upon rods or bars extending from one upright or parthereto. This general type of shelving is well known, being shown for example, in Bales Patent No. 1,056,486, Gerberich Patent No. 1,235,679 and my co-pendin-g application, Serial No. 262,049 filed November 11, 1919. In the cases mentioned, the shelf bars have hooks which engage in apertures in some part of the upright. The object of my present invention is to provide a construction in which the portions of the uprights which engage the hooks will be of sufficient strength to withstand the strain, and yet will not add materially to the weight or amount of material employed in the structure. Under certain conditions, it is advantageous to employ sheet metal for the face strips, and according to one design, shown in Figures 7 and 8 of said co-pending application, the' face strips are box-like in form and bottle neck slots are formed in them for the reception of the hooks, It is found, however, that when shelves so constructed are heavily loaded or thin gage metal is employed, the metal is apt to tear at the slots. It is my purpose to render it practicable to thicken the metal at the slots without increasing the thickness elsewhere. Another object of the invention is to provide a one piece shelf bar or rod which will occupy a small space, vertically, and yet be strong, economical and so formed as to avoid abrasion of the goods inserted and withdrawn from the shelving. I

I accomplish my objects by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawin s in whichig. 1 is a top edge view of my improved face strip as it will appear before it is bent.

Fig. 2 is a top edge view of a fragment of the face strip illustrating the manner in which it is bent in accordance with my,in-.-

vention.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view analogous Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 25, 1921.

Serial No. 391,280.

to Fig. 2 but showing the fracture which would result if the metal were improperly distributed or improperly configurated.

F g. 4 is a top plan'and assembly view.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the parts shown nFig. 4, a portion of the face strip being broken away to show the parts within.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the assembly and general construction of the parts.

Fig. 7 shows one end of the blank from which the shelf bars are formed.

Like numerals denote like parts throughout the several views.

Referring first to the face strip blank, Fig. 1, this has a central portion 10, two end portions 12 and two intermediate portions 14. The center and end portions are of ordinary gage while the intermediate portions are of increased thickness, for example, the intermediate bars may be of 14 gage steel with the remainder 18 gage. The portions 10 and 12 are not in the same plane, but are offset to the full extent rendered possible by the increased thickness of the intermediate portions. Where the thin portion of the metal joins the thick portion the shoulders 16, 18 are beveled fora purpose which will hereinafter more fully appear. The blanks are slotted for receiving the hooks of the rack bars hereinafter described. By reference these slots 17 are of bottle nec form and so distributed that the pairs of hooks of the rack bars will be engaged by them.

The blanks having this peculiar section are next formed in a particular manner, viz., by bending the portions 12 in a direction such that the flush side will come within the corner. In a similar manner the intermediate section 14 is bent in such direction that its flush side will come within the corner. By preference these operations are performed in a rolling machine, the face strip bein subjected to a series of rollers each of Whlll contributes to the configurating or forming of the article. As a final step, the blank passes'through a strai htening guide which trues the face strip, ringing it to box-like form with the two flanges 12, 12 parallel as best shown in Figs. 4 and 6.

After the face strip is thus formed a partition plate 20 is inserted between the flanges 12, 12 and secured in place by spot welding. riveting or other appropriate means.

When the strip is thus configurated the slots come on the inner side of the face strip in position to receive the hooks 22 of the shelf bar 24. The manner of distributing the metal in the blank and the manner of bending it are of importance, for if the sections were bent in the opposite direction to those specified, that is, if they were bent so that the flush portion of the surface came on the outside of the corner, there would be a tendency if not a certainty to fracture the blank at point 26 shown in Fig. 3. As the result of my method of distributing the metal and configurating the blank, the face strip will possess great strength and rigidity without adding any appreciable amount of weight or thickness to it, nor changing its appearance from that) shown in my said copending application.

Referring to the shelf bars, these are formed in an advantageous and economical manner, In the first place they are each made entirely from a single piece of metal. In forming the blank shown in Fig. 7 a notch 27 is formed near the end, the portion of the blank beyond the notch forming a depending arm 28 having a wing which finally constitutes the lower of the two hooks 22. Near its upper edge it has a wing which finally constitutes the upper of the two hooks 22. The remainder of the bar instead of being cut away so as to leave merely the height wanted in the shelving, is bent upward so as to form a U-shaped cross section as illustrated. The result is that the bar possesses reat stiffness and possesses approximatefy as great strength at the middle as at the end. This expedient also has the advantage of producing a rounded lower edgeto the bar which is both sightly and safe from the danger of cutting or marring articles being placed on the shelf beneath.

In other words, there will be no danger of the bar scratching the goods as they are introduced into the shelving, nor the hand of the person who is loading or unloading the shelves.

Having thus described my invention, what -I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A blank for a face strip for shelving,

the blank having two sections joined by an one surface of the intermediate sections-ant? the center sections being flush with the opposite surface of the intermediate sections.

3. In shelving, a face strip formed from a metallic blank having a thickened section and two integral thinner sections joined to opposite edges thereof, the thinner sections lying in different planes with their surfaces flush with opposite surfaces of the thickened portion, and the resulting shoulders being beveled substantially as described.

4. In shelving .a face strip formed from a metallic blank having a thickened section and two integral thinner sections joined to opposite 'e'dgesthereof, the thinner sections lying in different planes with their surfaces flush with opposite surfaces of the thickened portion, and the face strip being bent along the lines of juncture in a direction such that the flush surfaces come at the inner corners.

5. In shelving having a face strip having end portions which are also thinner and flush with the opposite surface of the thickened portion, the blank being so bent that internal corners are formed in the flush surfaces at the point where the thickenedv portion joins the thinner portion.

6. In metallic shelving, the combination with an upright havin'g slots occurring in pairs of shelf bars formed of a single piece of metal, the blank from which the shelf bars are formed having notches near the opposite ends for forming vertical arms, and

hooked wings adapted to be bent at right angles to the plane of said arms for hooking into the slots in the upright, the remaining portion of the bar, between the notches, being bent upward to form a U-shaped cross section, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

'JOHN B. OCONNOR. 

